Feeling Fidgety

I have been so fidgety lately, flitting from one task to another, barely getting anything done.  So, I decided since I was flitting, I might as well start some new projects.  I am not one of those people who starts one project, only works on that one project, and finishes it, oh no.  I like to have a dozen projects going at once :)

The Single Girl Quilt is coming along nicely, but I needed, no I CRAVED to start something new and springy and fresh.  So, I pulled out my fabric bins and started digging around.  I found some lovely yardage I had bought of Curio, by Basic Grey for Moda.  Aquas, lemony yellows, creams, spring green, it was perfect!  I combined it with some other fabrics and was well on my way.

I have been wanting to make a "plus" quilt forever.  So, the pattern I chose is from the Simplify book by Camille Roskelly.

I cut out the pattern in a few hours on Sunday, and laid it out to get my colors all organized.

Now I am sewing the rows all together.  It has been really easy so far.

And since the cross stitch I was working on was finished, I started another new one :)  I worked on this while watching the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and cried my eyes out.  I need to watch happier movies.

So, that is what I have going on.  What are you working on??  Anything you are dying to start?

Sherbert Pips Chevron Quilt

My friend Julie is having a baby girl pretty soon, we were able to see them while in Utah last month, and she is so excited about it.  She already has two boys, so it was time they got another girl in the house.  When I was thinking about what to make her, I pulled out my fat quarters of Sherbert Pips fabric and knew that was what I had to use.

There have been so many beautiful chevron / zig zag quilts popping up lately, and I really wanted to try making one, so I googled it.  I came across Hyacinth Quilt Designs, and she had an amazing chevron quilt!  I loved it, so I sat down and figured out how she made it.  It was kind of hard, it would have been easier to use a 40" long strip, rather than my 20" long fat quarter strip, but in the end it all worked out great.

Isn't this fabric just adorable?  I have loved it forever, and was happy to use it in a quilt finally!!  I stipple quilted it with white thread, and used a light pink for the binding.

I used up extra pieces on the backing, and I had a yard of the cute print with the girls on swings, oh my gosh, I love that one!

And many thanks to my quilt model Jessie, she is always so happy to help me take pictures :-)

Summer Snapperland

In January I decided it was time to start a new cross stitch project, my current work in process was messed up, see the previous post! and was driving me crazy.  So I just had to ditch it to start something else.  It worked out pretty well because just after stitching it, we had to make a last minute trip to Utah, and we were driving.  Driving to Salt Lake City from Portland takes about 12-14 hours, and I needed something to work on and keep my hands busy.

I pulled out the charts for Summer Snapperland by Bent Creek.  I have had this ready to stitch for a few years now.  I pulled out my threads and picked and chose what I thought would look best.  I changed several colors to be more vibrant.

I loved working on this, it took me about 5 weeks to stitch it.  It helped I had so much time in the car, and watching Downton Abbey *ahem*

I made the girl (who was charted to have grey short hair) a blonde, like my daughter Jessie.

The quote along the bottom says "Turn your face to the sun & the shadows fall behind you"  I plan to get it framed and hang it in my house.  It matches my house perfectly!  Now... to find another project to devour.

Cross Stitching, help!

When I started this blog in 2006, I was inspired by other cross stitchers to do it.  I met so many wonderful people through blogging and cross stitching that I stitched like a mad woman for about 3 years.  Then, the quilting bug started worming its way into my life, and that has taken over.  I have such an obsessive personality, it's all or nothing for me!  I still enjoy reading all of my stitching buddies blogs every day, and I enjoy my stitching hanging in my home.

I hit a road block with my current stitching project back in November.  I have been slowly, but surely working on Gina, Queen of the Sea by Ink Circles.  It has been a WIP for several years now, and the thread I am using is an over-dyed thread.  Well, while working on it, I had to take some stitching out, I made a counting error, and the thread had left dye on the fabric!  I was really bummed out about it, and haven't picked it up since then.

See the dye lines in the upper right hand corner?  I have to take that whole line out to restitch.  What would you do??

My friend Charissa told me to just restitch it, and adjust the pattern for the mistake I made in stitching.  I think I was one stitch off... I could easily do that, but still...